ALBION have stepped up their pursuit of Igor Tudor after missing out on PSV Eindhoven centre-back Andre Ooijer.

ALBION have stepped up their pursuit of Igor Tudor after missing out on PSV Eindhoven centre-back Andre Ooijer.

The Baggies have resumed talks with Juventus officials in the last few days after failing in a recent approach for 31-year-old Ooijer.

PSV turned down Albion's advances to sign the Amsterdam-born ace, citing their unwillingness to part with a player who has made 169 appearances during a successful eight-year period with the club, scoring 19 times.

Albion's failure to sign the experienced Ooijer means they will now turn their attentions back to Croatian defender Tudor, having tried to sign him on loan last season.

As revealed in the Evening Mail a fortnight ago, Albion made a serious attempt to sign the 27-year-old during the January transfer window after agreeing a deal where his club Juventus would pay a sizeable chunk of his £40,000-a-week salary.

At the time Bryan Robson's men were fighting against relegation and Tudor rejected a move.

Rather than trying to re-negotiate a deal, Albion abandoned their pursuit of the player at the time and he opted to join Serie A side Siena instead.

But Tudor has since returned to Juve and is available for transfer having been told he has little future at the Delle Alpi stadium.

I understand there have been talks between the two clubs in the last few days to discuss a proposal where the Turin giants would subsidise a small percentage of his salary allowing Albion, who have already set aside funds for such a scenario, to pay the rest.

But the biggest sticking point remaining is Tudor's apparent reluctance to move to England.

His representative Craig Hutchinson recently said: "Igor didn't want to join West Brom last season because he didn't feel it was the right time.

"I believe a move to the Premiership would be a good move for him but at the moment it looks like he'll be going somewhere else."

Middlesbrough, Newcastle and Rangers have looked at the player over the summer, while Monaco are also monitoring his situation.